Profoto Connect Pro Firmware Update: Better TTL, But Godox Is Closing In

Profoto has released a firmware update for the Connect Pro transmitter that delivers two genuine improvements: better TTL behavior for Nikon cameras and a lock screen activated by holding the middle dial. For photographers who shoot Nikon and depend on consistent TTL in fast-moving environments, the improved behavior matters. The update is real, and it works.

What surrounds it is more complicated. The Phoblographer’s Chris Gampat — one of the more experienced reviewers of professional lighting gear — tested the update and found it worked flawlessly on the Leica SL2s across multiple lens configurations. He also announced plans to transition to Godox.

Context

Profoto built its reputation over decades as the gold standard for professional strobe lighting — consistent output, reliable triggering, and ecosystem depth that justified premium pricing. The Connect Pro sits at the center of that ecosystem as the transmitter that links cameras to Profoto’s flash heads and monolights.

The competitive context has shifted. Godox, the Chinese lighting manufacturer that dominated the budget segment for years, has moved steadily upmarket with products that increasingly compete on technical performance rather than just price. The gap that once justified Profoto’s premium has narrowed — and the firmware update, while useful, highlights rather than resolves the underlying tension.

The Detail

The TTL improvement for Nikon addresses a real compatibility gap. Gampat’s testing confirmed that TTL behavior on the Leica SL2s — an L-mount body — performed flawlessly, which also demonstrates the L-mount Alliance’s cross-brand compatibility advantages extending into the lighting ecosystem. The lock screen feature solves a practical problem: accidental dial changes during transit or on a busy set are a genuine source of frustration with transmitters, and a hold-to-lock mechanism is the right solution.

The limitations the update does not address are equally instructive. Installing firmware requires Bluetooth connectivity and the Profoto app — a workflow that Gampat characterizes as unnecessarily complex on a working set. The L-mount version of the Connect Pro lacks features present in the Canon and Nikon variants, creating capability disparity within the same product line. And Nikon Zf flash compatibility remains behind what older Nikon bodies like the D850 achieved — a regression that the firmware update does not correct.

The broader friction Gampat documents is not primarily technical. It centers on Profoto’s relationship with working photographers: reduced press communication, preferential access for influencer relationships over professional shooters, and what he characterizes as indifference to the concerns of the photographers who built the brand’s reputation. Whether or not that characterization is fair, it reflects a sentiment that surfaces repeatedly in professional photography communities — and it shapes purchase decisions in a market where Godox now offers competitive TTL performance at substantially lower prices.

Source: The Phoblographer

Content created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.